Newspaper Page Text
THE WIRLO FiRCETTINC
BY THE W9RLD F»RG«T
% 4t* •
liCKUGKT
The World Forgetting by
the Worid Forgot
Independent Release
On his second full-length release
The World Forgetting by the World
Forgot. local folkie Nick Light has
amped up scale, production and sound
without losing what was charming on
his debut The Absent Parade. Some
songs still consist of just Light and a
simple acoustic guitar, like “Sleeping
as a Cure." but others, like “Behind
the Smiles," a charming foot-tapper
reminiscent of Jules Shear's solo work,
blend in light drums, backing vocals,
bass and electric guitars without
seeming overly layered or distracting
one from the melody.
He's also learned to tone it down
a little vocally, relying on what's good
in his own voice without (mostly)
straining for emotions and recruiting
some lovely female backup singers
(e g., on Time and Consequence,'
where the extra help creates a
welcoming softness that dulls the
sharp piano bits). It's all a step closer
to Sufjan Stevens than it was before,
especially with the echoey production
on some numbers that's fashionable
in indie circles, but without the crazy
ambition or, quite, the transcendence.
Does The World Forgetting by
the World Forgot hang together
as an album? Well, it doesn’t not
hang together. What it does do is
demonstrate Light's gift for a sweet
song as well as his development
as a coordinator of instruments, all
evident from the first track, “A Reason
to Breathe,* which could pretty much
already be not only on the radio but
quite easily on a movie soundtrack.
Hillary Brown
Nick Light is playing at the
Caledonia Lounge on Wednesday.
Sept 5.
SUPER MONKEY
Grunt
Independent Release
First off. what a generically shitty
name for a band That, matched with
completely bland and predictable cover
art virtually guarantees that this album
will remain un-listened to by nearly all
ifs srsnt to and still-sealed copies will
be available in bargain bins, if not trash
eara. in shod order And that's a shame
because the actual content tf the album
trill half bad.
Charlie Garland (Victor Charlie)
handles vocal and guitar duties for
this local two-piece band, and Greg
Carlson handles drums. Beginning
with ‘Early Bird,' Super Monkey sets
the listener up with a full-bore heavy
rock track complete with tremolo-laden
solos. Carlson does his Bonham-best
leading into the instrumental “Scream’
which just trickin' smokes. “Grunt" is
full of Melvin’s style chugga-chugga.
The whole record, in fact, is packed full
of gloriously massive guitar riffs. Super
Monkey is like a totally undiscovered
and forgotten 1970’ Canadian garage
band. This is what Rush would've
wound up sounding like had they never
thrown away their Zeppelin albums and
started reading Ayn Rand novels.
Which leads me back to wonder
why the members of Super Monkey
mask their total rock ability via utter
ridiculousness. The only imaginable
reason is purposeful self-effacement;
the strategy of, to avoid accusations of
such, not taking oneself too seriously
and making damn sure everyone else
knows damn well that the band isn’t
Taking itself seriously. I’ve no clue what
Garland and Carlson's intentions were
but this is the only possible thing I
can imagine. Thing is. though, there’s
other ways to go about this which don’t
render the entire project a joke. Anyone
remember Bandway? That act employed
similar tactics. Except Bandway really
was a joke... so. I guess, whatever.
Super Monkey completely rocks
but most people will never find out
because of the stupid choices made by
the band. In the track “Question Mark"
the band summarizes my feelings
precisely: “Aw, hell yeah! / Aw, hell no!"
Gordon Lamb
cARiBouandorra
CARIBOU
Andorra
Merge
Fluttering flutes, tambourines and
tinkling bells? Swirling psych-guitar,
crazy drumming and fey vocals?-
Caribou must be back, but this time
were not talking about a track or two
Eight of the nine numbers on Dan
Snaith’s fourth full-length (and his
second since he changed his stage
name from Manitoba) positively burst
with manic pop glee
It’s often said about Snaith that
each of his albums is steeped in a
particular era. which is true to an
extent. Up in Flames certainly bounded
through a rain-forest/ rainbow prism
of *90s electronica, but it had its strong
injections of early 70s post-hippie
jamming, all the better to kick it iike
a tie-dyed mule. 2005’s The Milk*!
Human Kindness reined much of that
energy in (suffering for it) and focused
more on the contained groove of 70s
krautrock. Andorra, if a touchstone
is required, takes Up in Flamed
springboard and dives headlong into
pop music, this time splashing a bit
further into the past, surfacing in the ,
summer lake of The Zombies and ’60s
flower-power bliss ‘Mekxfy Day,* the
first single, wisely opens things with
the most infectious and immediate
song of the album. Here are the flutes
and percussion and swirly pretty things
in full bloom. If Elliott Smith had been
born three decades earlier and been
happy, well, we’d still have him around,
and he would’ve made this track.
Andorra never really stops from the
first second.
This is still a record produced by
a laptop pro, and the usual clicks and
whirs brush elbows with everything
else. But there’s harmony in every
cross-generational breeding. “Irene* is
the only track that screams 2007, with
its clearly clipped and modulated tones
and blips. Finally comes “Niobe,*
which wants so much to explode but
instead shows restraint, a brilliant
contrast to the brimming joy of the
record. A surprising return to form that
really isn’t surprising at all.
Michael Wehunt
FEEDING FINGERS
Wound in Well
Tephramedia / Stickfigure
While Feeding Fingers is
ostensibly a band, this alburn was
made entirely by musician and artist
Justin Curfman. It’s a predictable yet
starkly emotional album that may take
its musical cues from other groups but
is entirely the work of Curfman
On its surface, Wound In Wall
is a darkly romantic record full of
throbbing, single-note bass, alternately
soaring and screeching guitar lines,
icy-cold drum lines and vocals
which are more a mourning wail than
confident self-presentation. The most
evident musical touchstone here is
The Cure's triumvirate of Seventeen
Seconds. Faith and Pornography.
But repeated listens show these
albums to be merely influences and
not blueprints Curfman knows the
language but clearly writes his own
sentences.
For example, the bass line for “I
Can't Breathe" sounds very familiar
at first, but features a clever walk
down the fret board that's unexpected
Overall, the best parts of this record
are the keyboard melodies which
provide support for Curfman’s lyrics.
When reading them, Curfman’s words
can come off like poor poetry, but
when placed in context, they work
quite well. Standout lines include “this
whole house is between / the things I
am needing /and the things that you
bring,’ and “faceless figures feed their
lingers / to a man inside a wall / and
they laugh so loud that you cannot hear
him/chew at all."
It’s crucial for record reviewers
to allow themselves to be fooled by
artists If you always listen with a
suspicious ear, it’s possible to lose
out on the mysterious subtlety and
certain intangible elements of a record
because you are too busy looking for
cracks in the facade. I donl care to
know any more about Justin Curlman
or his band, because I like this record a
whole hell of a lot
Gordon Lamb
S GT . PEPPER
The Compleat Sgt Pepper album
performed LIVE
with strings, horns & sitar
Sat Sept 1.5 @ Georgia Theatre
NOW OPEN
I M-T 9nm-?cm
WHEN ATLANTA AND TAMPA COMBINE EFFORTS TO
BRING ATHENS A HIGH END DANCE CLUB YOU GET...
BE PREPARED 10 PARTY
ON A HIGHER
3
3
EXOTIC MARTINI
MONDAY
80s RETRO THURSDAY
DRINK PRICES
fROM THE 80s
VIP
TWO fOR
TUESDAYS
WICKED WEDNESDAYS
CLUB FRIDAYS SPECIAL GUEST DJ$
LIVE DTs SPINNING ALL NIGHT ON OUR HUGE DANCE FLOOR
131 BROAD SI. ► ATHENS. GA ► 706.316.3000
NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS SEPTEMBER 5,2007 • RAGPOLE.COM 31